MRP, MRV from 1st week of May

The government will issue Machine Readable Passport and Machine Readable Visa from the first week of May to meet the deadline set by the International Civil Aviation Organisation.
Official sources said one can apply for MRP from April 1 and the authority will start the delivery from the first week of May after completion of necessary formalities.
ICAO set the deadline of April 1 for its member countries to start issuing MRP. All traditional non-MRP passports must be withdrawn from circulation by 2015, the ICAO said.
However, it said, there is no deadline for the validity of MRPs, nor is there a requirement or deadline established for countries to issue electronic passports (e-passports).
Talking to UNB, Brigadier General Md Refayet Ullah, director of MRP and MRV Project, said no handwritten passport would be issued after April 1.
He, however, said as it needs one more month to start delivering the MRPs, emergency passport could be issued with one-year validity.
‘If one needs a passport for emergency purposes like medical treatment, the authority can issue handwritten passport for one-year period before 1st week of May,’ Brigadier General Refayet said.
This is approved by ICAO and there will be no bar for travel with such emergency passport, he said adding that passports having expiry date beyond April 1 will, however, be acceptable up to 2015.
Fee for normal MRP will be Tk 3,000 and for emergency Tk 6,000 as the finance ministry has already approved it.
On November 24 last year, the home ministry sent the project to the cabinet committee on purchase for evaluation. The purchase committee sent back the project proposal twice to the home ministry for its further scrutiny and improvement.
On January 12, the cabinet committee on purchase approved most provisions of the project and finally on January 14 approved in principle the entire project. On January 24, the summary of the project was sent to the Prime Minister’s Office for final approval.
The total cost of the project is estimated at Tk 526 crore. Under the project, some 6.6 million (66 lakh) passports will be issued in next three years.
Presently, the number of valid Bangladesh passports is 12 million (1.2 crore).
The MRPs will be issued from 34 regional passport offices across the country.

Courtesy of UNB via NewAgebd